PRO BONOSpotlight on serviceJeff Barnes is used to representing employers indisputes with lots of money at stake. But in the probono cases he’s handled for a decade—helpingasylum-seekers as well as an agency that servesteens in crisis—his clients have much more to lose.Early in his career at Houston-based BakerBotts, he made contact with YMCA International,which helps people seeking refuge in the U.S.“The asylum cases were extraordinarily reward-ing,” he says. “Usually, lawsuits are about money,and these were about saving people’s lives.”In one case, he represented a pro marathonerfrom Ethiopia who was invited to run the Houstonmarathon. Rather than go back home, the man, amember of Ethiopia’s persecuted Oromo people,requested asylum.“He wasn’t terribly involved in politics, butin Ethiopia, marathon runners are rock stars,”Barnes says. “As a high-profile Oromo, he wastargeted by police and randomly imprisoned for aBarnes won the man’s case, and it didn’t hurtthat one of the presiding immigration officers wasan amateur marathoner himself. In one bridge-building moment, he says, the officer brought aJeff BarnesFISHER & PHILLIPSEMPLOYMENT &LABORHOUSTONTurning Lives AroundJeff Barnes fights for refugees and troubled teens BY MARC RAMIREZmedal he’d earned in a race to show to Barnes’ cli-ent. “It helped that he understood that marathon-running in Ethiopia is a very big deal,” he says.

Another client, from Darfur, worked as adomestic servant for a wealthy Egyptian business-man visiting Houston. “He didn’t have the normalworking rights that most workers in America have,”Barnes says. “He couldn’t leave the house. Nothaving the freedom to leave the workplace to havea meal or meet a friend for coffee—that’s border-The man managed to escape and sought helpfrom YMCA International, which helped him gettemporary authorization to work. In the mean-time, Barnes won asylum for the man, arguingthat he’d be in danger if sent back to his native,war-scarred Sudan.

“In both cases,” Barnes says, “I had a client insevere crisis who reasonably believed that, if forcedto go back to his own country, he would be killedor imprisoned or subject to violence—all becausehe belonged to a particular ethnic group, or hadparticular political views.”Over the last decade, Barnes has also providedpro bono counsel and support to Houston’s CenterHow to Help—In HoustonCatholic Charities of the Archdioceseof Galveston-HoustonThe charity’s St. Frances Cabrini Center for ImmigrationLegal Assistance seeks pro bono attorneys for casesincluding asylum, abandoned/abused immigrantjuveniles, domestic-violence survivors, and victims ofcrimes including human trafficking.Wafa Abdin: (713) 526-4611catholiccharities.orgYMCA InternationalYMCA needs pro bono attorneys to represent asylum-seekers, as well as victims of domestic violence andhuman trafficking. Mentoring is available from staffattorneys. Programs include Walk-in Wednesdays, duringwhich people can discuss their immigration issues.(713) 659-5566ymcahouston.org/ymca-international/volunteer/Human Rights First—Houston OfficeThe organization needs pro bono attorneys to take onasylum cases for indigent refugees.(713) 955-1360humanrightsfirst.org/houston